Have you made your plans to join us in Key Largo this summer for REEF Fest? Come celebrate 20 years of the REEF Volunteer Survey Project with 4 days of diving, learning, and parties. REEF Fest is planned for August 8-11. The schedule is packed with free workshops, diving opportunities, organized kayaking and snorkeling expeditions, and evening socials. Make your plans soon - hotel room blocks are filling up and dive boat space blocks are expiring soon. Complete details can be found online at: www.REEF.org/REEFFest2013

Why the celebration? In the summer of 1993, a group of pioneering volunteers conducted the first REEF fish surveys. Twenty years later, the Volunteer Survey Project and other REEF initiatives are leading the way as innovative and effective marine conservation programs. You are invited to join us this summer to celebrate 20 years of success.

Learn all about how to ID butterflyfish like these Spotfin Butterfly during the upcoming Fishinar. Photo by Carol Cox.

Our 2014 Fishinar schedule is off to a great start! We've got lots of exciting, fun, and educational REEF Fishinars in store for you this year - featuring your favorite instructors and special guests alike.

REEF Fishinars are online webinars that you can view from your computer or iPad from the comfort of your own home. You don't even need a microphone or a webcam to participate - it's easy to participate!

REEF Fishinars are a free benefit of REEF membership, and did you know that REEF members can also access and view any of our archived Fishinars from previous years? A great way for new fish surveyors to learn, or for experienced fish surveyors to brush up on their ID skills.

Explore our Fishinar webpage, register for the sessions you like, and we'll see you online!

Next time you sign up for one of REEF’s Field Survey Trips, you’ll be greeted by a new voice. REEF has added a new member to the team; welcoming Jamie Dietrich as the new Trips Program and Communications Manager! As Jamie’s position title implies, her main responsibilities revolve around managing REEF’s Field Survey Trips Program. Each year, REEF leads 10-15 week long international Field Survey Trips to diving destinations across the world. Led by marine life experts, participants learn about the ocean while contributing to marine conservation as citizen scientists. Anyone can join REEF and likeminded divers for an itinerary of diving, seminars and fun! Jamie will also be managing communications and marketing efforts for all of REEF’s programs.

Jamie is a midwesterner at heart, but comes to the Keys from the Big Apple where she spent eight years after university working in Experiential Marketing; listing several Fortune 500 companies among her clients. These days, her clientele seem a bit fishy, as she’s traded in the boardroom and business suit for the beach and a wetsuit. Jamie recently became a certified Divemaster and Coral Reef Research Diver, and she spent the majority of the last year developing her conservation expertise on a volunteer marine mission in Fiji. After leaving her island home and returning to the States, she decided to make “island-time” a permanent staple in her life by relocating to the dive capital of the world. Jamie is excited to get her feet wet and continue to contribute towards meaningful work that aids in the protection of what she’s come to love most, the ocean.

Learn all about the interesting lives of Hamlets on March 3rd! Photo of spawning Butter Hamlets by Ned DeLoach.

Our 2015 Fishinar series is off to a great start. Be sure to join us for these free, educational webinars. The hour-long sessions let you learn and have fun from the comfort of your living room. Check out the full schedule at www.REEF.org/fishinars. And keep an eye on that space because we are always adding new ones. The first part of the year includes...

Lesser Seen Fishes of the Cayman Islands - Jonathan Lavan, February 11th

Explore our Fishinar webpage, register for the sessions you like, and we'll see you online! No special software or microphone is required - just a computer with speakers and an internet connection. And did we mention they are FREE to REEF members!

Diadema antillarum, the Long-Spined Sea Urchin, will soon be part of the TWA REEF survey protocol. Photo by Paul Humann.

In response to requests from the scientific community, we are adding a new species to monitor on REEF surveys in the Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA) - Diadema antillarum, the Long-Spined Sea Urchin. In the early 1980s, a large die-off of Diadema occurred throughout the TWA. This has had a significant and long-lasting impact on coral reefs in the region because Diadema is (was) one of the primary grazers on Caribbean coral reefs (keeping rocks clear for baby corals to establish and keeping algae from overgrowing established corals). The disappearance of Diadema, coupled with overfishing of grazing fish species such as parrotfish and surgeonfish in some parts of the Caribbean along with other complicating factors, has resulted in many algae-dominated reefs. Despite 20+ years since the die-off, the once wide-spread and abundant species has failed to recover in most places in the Caribbean. There is a growing collective of researchers who are hoping to map the current distribution and abundance of Diadema. REEF will be assisting this effort by including Diadema in our TWA protocol. Surveyors will report whether they were actively looking for Diadema or not, and if they were, in what abundance category (S,F,M,A - same as for fish). We are currently working on the necessary training materials and additions to the database, and the new protocol will be in place soon.

The Regal Demoiselle, a new non-native species in the Gulf of Mexico. This picture was taken in its native range of the Indo-Pacific. The invasive individuals are more drab. Photo by Paul Humann.

Last year we shared an article about a new non-native fish, the Regal Demoiselle (Neopomacentrus cyanamos), showing up in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. REEF surveyors in the Yucatan region of Mexico have since reported the species. And now a new publication co-authored by REEF staff Lad Akins documents that the species could become established and spread in the western Atlantic. The study incorporated a computer model to evaluate the the non-native species’ potential to impact native populations. On the basis of this work, it is foreseeable that the reefs presently harboring Regal Damselfish will likely see increased abundance of this damsel. Immediate attempts to eliminate the fish, therefore, should be focused in nearshore shallow waters spanning Veracruz to Frontera, Mexico. To find out more about this study, published last month in the journal Marine Biology, and to see a complete list of the 50+ scientific publications that have featured REEF data, visit www.REEF.org/db/publications.

The species is native to the Indo-Pacific and Red Sea. Similar in appearance to the native Brown Chromis, the Regal Damsel is distinguished by a yellow or white spot at the rear base of the dorsal fin, a dark spot behind the gill, and yellow rear margins of the fins and tail. In contrast, the native Brown Chromis is identified by dark margins on the tail and a dark spot at the base of the pectoral fin.

If you see this fish while doing a REEF survey, be sure to report it on your form in the unlisted fish section. Please also report detailed information on the sighting to REEF through the invasive species reporting page.

Make a donation today so that REEF staff can continue research and discovery on the impacts and solutions of the lionfish invasion in the western Atlantic. Photo by Rich Carey.

We have one week left in our summer matching campaign, and want to thank everyone who has given so far. This summer, we are highlighting all the amazing discoveries made possible by generous donations from members like you!

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “To date, we have explored less than five percent of our oceans.” What does that mean for REEF and our members? It means that there is so much out there to discover! Every year, REEF members are finding new species, and REEF scientists are investigating the lifecycles and behaviors of critical marine species. We are constantly learning new things about ocean wildlife that contribute to their survival.

It also means that all these new discoveries can help regulatory agencies and policymakers to make more informed decisions on how to manage our fisheries. In cases like the threatened Nassau Grouper, seasonal protections during spawning seasons have been developed. In the case of invasive species, like lionfish, removal events are being encouraged because they have been proven effective at controlling lionfish populations.

Please take this opportunity to make a contribution this summer and help REEF continue to make these important discoveries that ultimately protect marine species around the world! Thank you again to all our members who support us in our mission, and have a great summer!

To those who are in the know, St Vincent is considered the critter capital of the Caribbean. To those who watch fish, it is known that the rare is commonplace and that the fishwatching is unlike any other location in the Caribbean. REEF’s data from the June Field Survey supports those claims. With a team of 13 divers, the REEF group recorded an astounding 243 species, more than 65 of which were unlisted “write-ins” on the survey forms.

Diving with Bills Tewes at Dive St Vincent, long time REEF supporter and widely regarded “Caribbean Character”, the team split up on two boats and survey sites around the southwest end of the island. Long-time REEF expert Franklin Neal provided an extra special view from above and into shallow water as he snorkeled, while other team members spent hours on each dive exploring varied habitats and depths.

Special finds during the week would take an entire newsletter to list, but there were a few fish that stood out including the still undescribed Bluebar Jawfish on most sites, five frog fish on one dive, multiple black brotula, various pipefish commonly sighted and the largest spotfin gobies (10 inches?!) we’ve ever seen. The fish of the week may well have been the Golden Hamlet that Bill pointed out as his favorite fish and the species that adorns the cover of Reef Fish Identification.

The diving was bottom time unlimited and many dives exceeded two hours finishing in shallow water. Habitats were varied and visibility ranged from good to excellent on all of our dives. REEF is already planning our next Field Survey to dive St Vincent in August of 2008. The project will be led by Paul Humann and will be a must for any serious fishwatcher. For more details, contact Joe@reef.org

REEF recently completed our AAT monitoring of Biscayne National Park (BNP). Over the last two years, we have monitored fish assemblages inside the marine park at 6 separate locations twice each year (March and September) to correlate our results with historical data that BNP has collected. REEF’s future collaboration with BNP is yet to be determined but will likely involve assisting them with the potential establishment of a protected area somewhere within the Park’s boundaries. REEF is excited to have this opportunity to continue working with BNP this upcoming spring so please stay tuned for more information once our future project is defined.

Meanwhile, I would like to personally thank the monitoring team from our last event for their “above and beyond the call” efforts to get the job done. We had weather issues that delayed the project by a full week, followed by a tragic death in the Key Largo diving community in losing Mike Smith. All of us at REEF especially acknowledge Lad Akins for his efforts as our boat captain, Rob Bleser (owner of Quiescence Dive Shop where Mike worked) for pushing this project through under very difficult circumstances, and Steve Campbell for acting as boat captain on our last day. And thank you to the diving team for juggling your schedules to make sure we had enough divers each day: Jesse Armacost, Dave Grenda, Brian Hufford, Lillian Kenney, Mike Phelan, and Joyce Schulke. Everyone pulled together through the above challenges and I was proud to dive with each of you.

A school of king angelfish, one of the hundreds of reef fishes that can be seen during a dive in Baja. Photo by Paul Humann.

A REEF volunteer checks over her survey on a previous Baja Field Survey.

The REEF 2008 Field Survey Schedule is in full swing. Many of the trips are already sold out, but we wanted to bring your attention to one that still has some space on it -- the Field Survey to Baja Mexico aboard the Don Jose in the Sea of Cortez this October. This is a great trip, with spectacular diving and lots of tropical fishes, warm and clear water, and beautiful topside scenery. Some of the highlights include giant hawkfish, jawfish the size of your leg, whale sharks and manta rays, and spectacular sunsets over unpopulated desert islands. This will be the 5th time that REEF has done this amazing trip, and there is a good reason we keep going back. Come see what it's all about. The trip begins and ends in La Paz Mexico aboard the Don Jose live-aboard. Dr. Brice Semmens, reef fish ecologist and expert in Baja fishes, will be leading this trip.

This Field Survey is only held every few years so don't miss your chance! To find out more, check out the trip flyer. To secure your space, contact Jeanne at Baja Expeditions, 800-843-6967, travel@bajaex.com.

October 5 - 12, 2008 -- $1,550 - $1,750 per person, depending on room type. Package Includes: Six nights shipboard accommodations and one night local hotel accommodations in La Paz. Meals are included, beginning with breakfast on Day 2 and end with lunch on Day 7, and includes beer, soda and wine while shipboard.